Bangkok:
The price of oil snapped two days of steep losses Friday. Ample supplies and worries about the global economic outlook kept gains in check.
Benchmark crude for April delivery was up 42 cents to $93.26 a barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract fell $2.38, or 2.5 per cent, to finish at $92.84 per barrel in New York on Thursday, the second drop of 2 per cent or more in two days.
Crude oil's recent slide is a result of ample supplies and recent speculation that the Federal Reserve may soon allow interest rates to rise, which would reduce the supply of easy cash investors have been using to buy commodities such as oil.
Weak economic data from Europe and moves by China's government to cool inflation pressures have also tempered expectations about the strength of energy demand.
Brent crude, which is used to price oil used to make gasoline in many US refineries, was up 54 cents at $114.07 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange in London.
Benchmark crude for April delivery was up 42 cents to $93.26 a barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract fell $2.38, or 2.5 per cent, to finish at $92.84 per barrel in New York on Thursday, the second drop of 2 per cent or more in two days.
Crude oil's recent slide is a result of ample supplies and recent speculation that the Federal Reserve may soon allow interest rates to rise, which would reduce the supply of easy cash investors have been using to buy commodities such as oil.
Weak economic data from Europe and moves by China's government to cool inflation pressures have also tempered expectations about the strength of energy demand.
Brent crude, which is used to price oil used to make gasoline in many US refineries, was up 54 cents at $114.07 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange in London.
